A lovely stretch of riverside, an abbey, an impressive old hall, a pearl of a village and some lovely walking across the Jervaulx Abbey estate and Danby Hall makes this one of the best lowland walks in the Yorkshire Dales. Finishing (or starting) with a visit to the Jervaulx Abbey tea room and stopping off for a quick one at the Coverbridge Inn adds to the enjoyment. I always get pleasure from wandering through the ruins of old abbeys and this was no exception; the beautiful situation adding to a tangible sense of real history.

The abbey was built by the Cistercians in 1156 and was a real treasure trove until Henry V111 experienced certain marital problems in the 16th century and it thereafter fell in to disrepair. The grounds roll pleasantly to the river (as do those on the other side at Danby Hall) and are great to walk through but I must admit that my favourite stretch of the walk passes next to the river from the Coverbridge Inn to the abbey. The path here is excellent and religiously follows the river bank for the best part of 2 miles.

Recommend: Having done the walk in a clockwise direction I would recommend the anticlockwise circuit; the abbey should be seen initially, the riverside walk is a great way to finish and the inn is more strategically placed!

Comments

Live 5 miles away and did the walk today for the first time, anti clockwise, weather was fantastic – walk was OK until the Coverbridge Inn, after that tiresome, no views at all, can’t actually see the river and you have to walk in single file due to vegetation and looking down at your feet to check the uneven ground. Tip: take 2 cars, leave one at the tea rooms and one at the Inn so you can miss out the last bit.

I did this walk with a friend in October 2016 and thoroughly enjoyed it. We also had nice enough weather to sit out and eat our sandwiches in front of Danby Hall. The only disappointment was that when we turned into the field just after the Kilgram Bridge the field was ploughed over including the footpath so we had to pick our way around the edge of the field and find the path at the other side.

Great walk and we dropped on well as the weather was lovely. You were right about the amount of sheep and cows during the walk. In one area the cows were very curious and came very close to us which was slightly unnerving at one point! The Coverbridge Inn is a good stop off for lunch. The walk back to the Abbey was gorgeous with lots of nature around and some amazing coloured plants and flowers along the way.
Walk done July 2016, highly recommended. Thanks.